The Senate standoff over nominations to the Federal Election Commission has left the agency unable to implement, much less enforce, the bundling provision in the new lobbying law.

The law (PL 110-81) calls for the first batch of reports detailing the names of lobbyists or anyone who raises and bundles $15,000 or more for congressional and presidential candidates to be filed with the FEC by April 20. But a dispute between Senate Democrats and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., over nominations to the FEC has left the agency with only two acting commissioners — not enough to form a quorum to issue policy guidelines and rules to implement the new regulations.

The commission is composed of six members, three from each party. The vacancies have left it crippled, unable to issue any opinions or impose fines. Even the approval of additional presidential matching funds — beyond the $20 million it recently certified for release to qualifying candidates— will be put on hold until more commissioners are appointed. That could affect the presidential campaigns of Democrats John Edwards and Ohio Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich, as well Arizona Sen. John McCain and California Rep. Duncan Hunter on the Republican side, all of whom are relying to a certain extent on public funds to help keep their efforts alive.

The FEC recently lost three commissioners who had served in 2007 after their presidential recess appointments expired.

The current deadlock centers on President Bush’s renomination of Hans von Spakovsky, a former assistant attorney general for civil rights. Liberal groups have attacked von Spakovsky for advocating use of photo identification at the polls. Democratic Sens. Barack Obama of Illinois and Russ Feingold of Wisconsin placed holds on his confirmation.

In response, McConnell has refused to allow confirmation of three other nominees to move forward, despite criticism from a number of campaign watchdog groups. The White House has refused to withdraw von Spakovsky’s nomination.

The absence of a functional commission does not mean that the FEC’s 375 employees are staying at home until more commissioners are appointed. They are continuing with business as usual, collecting disclosure forms, continuing audits and investigations, and keeping track of the millions in contributions made to federal candidates and political action committees.

“There are important aspects of the commission’s work that cannot currently be done,” said FEC press officer Bob Biersack, “but much of the commission’s ongoing institutional work continues as it always would.”

Still, the nomination standoff marks the first time in 31 years that the FEC has been stalled in executing its responsibility to oversee the campaign finance regulations that guide both congressional and presidential elections. The last time was a two-month period during the 1976 presidential campaign, when the agency put some work on hold until the Supreme Court ruled in Buckley vs. Valeo that the president was responsible for nominating all six commissioners, while the Senate had confirmation authority. Prior to that decision, the White House, the Senate and the House each nominated two commissioners.

In addition to policy guidelines regarding the new bundling provision, a number of other decisions are awaiting FEC action. Among them: a ruling on whether Sen. Pete V. Domenici, R-N.M., can use campaign funds for legal expenses and whether the conservative group Club for Growth can run 15-second ads without disclaimers.

While there are a lot of unknowns about how long the commission might be out of action, at least one group awaiting a decision is “optimistic” that a new panel will be seated in time to deal with pending requests.

In December, SpeechNow.org asked the FEC if it could raise unlimited contributions from individual donors that could be used to elect and defeat candidates for office. The group doesn’t expect an answer before at least February.

“They still have a huge professional staff over there,” said SpeechNow President David Keating. “It’s not as if they are just sitting there on their hands saying, ‘What do we do?’”